Page 39 of Tornn's Mate
I bite back a grin as an argument erupts, about two thirds of the advisors backing Yumuf and the rest backing Bemment. My spirits lift when I realize my viewpoint holds the majority. Of course, Emperor Radakk has the final say.
“Why not raid theJansonnafor females, then take 58-Z for ourselves?” shouts Advisor Vobalt, a male I find even more repugnant than Bemment. But I’m shocked when it’s Bemment who offers a rebuttal.
“Idiot!” Advisor Bemment roars as he stares Vobalt down from across the table. “Have you missed the entire point of us forging an alliance with the humans and offering payment for their females rather than stealing them? We are trying to start over, build a new life for ourselves that includes alliances and trade with other races. No one will trade with us if they believe we’re duplicitous.”
“We will not repeat the mistakes of the past,” Emperor Radakk says with a dark look at Vobalt, and the room goes deathly quiet. “Stealing the worldship’s fertile females and then abandoning the rest of the humans to their ailing vessel is equal to blasting them to dust.”
“You make a wise point, Emperor,” Bemment says with a smug glance at Vobalt.
“Advisors, Emperor,” I say with a nod of respect, wanting to redirect the conversation to the settlement of Planet 58-Z, “I beseech you to think about the human women we’re taking as mates. I know from my own experience, and from speaking with other males who recently claimed a human female, that the women are reluctant to leave their family and friends behind. The women we’re being given aren’t volunteers. They are selected byJansonna’scommand team, and they aren’t given a choice.”
“Who cares!” Advisor Bemment shouts. “They are females, and they will do as they’re told.”
I shoot him a severe look that causes him to sink lower in his chair, then I continue with the speech I’d prepared, hoping the emperor will think of his own female’s happiness. “If we occupy the same planet as humankind, our new brides will be able to maintain contact and perhaps visit their family members. Such an arrangement would be beneficial to us because it’s in our best interest to keep our females content. Content females will be better mothers.”
Emperor Radakk sits taller in his chair. “My mate has requested to speak with her friends who are still aboard theJansonna, and I promised her I would arrange it. I’d intended to ask you, Admiral Tornn, to arrange for video comms to be installed on theJansonna. The engineers who are still making repairs on the human worldship should be able to do it. Anyway, my point is, I know how joyous it would make my mate if she could visit her friends from time to time. One day—very soon, I hope—she will birth my sons and daughters, and I feel an obligation to ensure her happiness.”
Yes. A thrill rushes through me. The meeting is going in my favor. At any moment, I’m certain the emperor will announce his final decision. I exchange a quick look with Admiral Yumuf, who leans back in his chair with a haughty expression. Across the table, Admiral Bemment bristles, though he doesn’t say another word. At least he knows when he’s been beaten.
“I will arrange for video comms to be installed on theJansonnaimmediately,” I say. “I believe my mate would also enjoy the opportunity to speak with her family.” Guilt hits me that the idea hadn’t already occurred to me. I know Ellie misses her mother and sister. Her eyes fill with wistfulness whenever she speaks of them.
“Thank you, Admiral Tornn.” Emperor Radakk rises to his feet, and the entire room stands up an instant later. The leader of the Darrvason Empire takes a deep breath and then says, “During the last twenty-five years, we’ve traveled through enough sectors and visited enough outposts to understand how rare it is to find an unspoiled planet. Most habitable planets are already occupied, and though we are certainly powerful enough to conquer a planet and take it for ourselves, I won’t sanction the deaths of any more innocents.”
There’s a sudden heaviness to the room as we all remember what happened in the aftermath of the Yelltzins’ attack on Darrvas. Most of us in the room were children at the time, but we witnessed our fathers and grandfathers destroy the Yelltzins’ entire fleet as well as their homeworld, innocent citizens included. Millions of them. Though Emperor Radakk has never admitted it aloud, I suspect the order his father gave to eradicate the Yelltzins haunts him. It’s one reason why the emperor would never sanction stealing humankind’s females and then abandoning the remaining occupants of theJansonnato certain death.
“Settling on 58-Z is our most logical choice,” the emperor finally continues. “Not only to ensure the happiness of our mates, but for the future of our empire itself. If we need more females, they’ll be within easy reach.” He turns to me. “How do you think Captain Warren and his command team will react to the news that we plan to share a planet with them?”
“I’m not certain, however, he won’t have any say in the matter. I suggest we call a meeting withJansonna’scommand team soon and inform them of the news.” I smirk inwardly knowing I’m the last individual Captain Warren wants to see. Not long ago, I’d paid him a special visit and threatened to skin him alive if he harmed any of our newly acquired females’ family members. I’d also appointed my trusted cousin, Officer Brute, to remain on theJansonnaas an observer to ensure the worldship captain behaved himself.
“Agreed.” Emperor Radakk peers at an image of 58-Z that’s displayed on a large screen on the wall. “I will make a fleet-wide announcement later today and inform our people of our plans. After twenty-five years of journeying through space, searching for females we are sexually compatible with while also looking for a new planet to call home, I suspect the news will be joyfully received.”
Chapter23
ELLIE
By the timeI reach chapter ten, home of the infamous carriage scene, I’m sweltering and aching and can’t seem to focus on the book any longer. I turn the tablet off and set it aside, then glance at the door. Will Tornn return soon?
As I shift in place, the heat pulsing in my core deepens. But even though my mate gave me permission to pleasure myself in his absence, I still hesitate to take action. The very idea fills me with shame. If I stroke my clit, Tornn will expect to hear about it. And if I don’t tell him about it and he somehow finds out, he’ll consider that an act of disobedience.
A quiver races across my bottom cheeks. The prospect of receiving a real punishment from him fills me with a strange mix of trepidation and longing.
But maybe… maybe I can keep it a secret. Maybe if I bring myself to a quick climax and then immediately wash my hands—or better yet, take a long bath and use extra soap—he’ll never know. I try but fail to brush aside the guilt that flows when I consider disobeying my mate.
I glance at the timepiece on the living room wall, a recent addition from Tornn to help me keep track of the Darrvason day, which mercifully lasts about the same as a twenty-four-hour human one. It’s still rather early and even if he returns for the midday meal, I should have at least another hour to myself. Plenty of time for a quick rub followed by a thorough bath during which I can erase all evidence of my naughtiness.
Leaning back on the sofa, I close my eyes and spread my legs. I reach down the pants and panties I’m wearing and drag two fingers along my slit.Mm. Feels good. A moan escapes me as I dip into my core and spread the moisture overtop my throbbing clit.
I stroke and I stroke, but when a release starts approaching, I slow my caresses until the moment passes. For a reason I can’t fathom, I suddenly want to draw out this experience, to take my time as I picture a sensual scenario in my mind and pleasure myself.
At first, I think about the wedding night scene from the book, but my thoughts quickly turn to my own first night spent with Tornn. Our first mating. How he’d stripped off my clothing, then turned me over his knee to frisk me, pumping his fingers into my pussy and my ass to make sure I wasn’t hiding any contraband.
The spanking. I replay the spanking over and over in my mind as I continue pressing on my swollen clit, circling it and sometimes giving it light pinches.
Yes. Close. I’m so close.
I picture how Tornn held me over his lap with my bottom lifted high in the air, my thighs spread indecently as he alternated swatting my cheeks and rubbing them.
I writhe against my hand as I think about the moment my mate grasped my hips and surged into my center from behind, driving into me while his vibrating balls impacted my clit.
